


Sometimes children fall into your life

by BlackPrism



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Big Brother Papyrus, Big Brother Sans, Dad Papyrus, Dad Sans, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Frisk is a Sweetheart, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Sickfic, Slice of Life, Smol Frisk, Very young Frisk, Young Frisk, a very small sweetheart, and some monsters might have a bit murdery intentions, at least in a few chapters, but not to much, fluffy angsty slices of life, more like, mostly slice of life with a bit of angst, they are a toddler here and the bone bros take them in, they try to dad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-27
Updated: 2017-12-10
Packaged: 2019-02-07 11:48:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,911
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12840522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BlackPrism/pseuds/BlackPrism
Summary: Neither of the bone brothers had planned on raising a child.They were good brothers, to each other and in general.But not dads.But sometimes children fall into your life, and you have to be not only a brother but also a bit more.Where a tiny human falls into the Underground, and two skeletons get an addition to their small family.





	1. This is why you don't wander through the deep snow on a mountain

**Author's Note:**

> Well, so I wanted to write something cute.  
> And hey, Papyrus said somewhere in the game that he would be a great mom, so he should get the chance to do that. :')
> 
> Also on Tumblr: https://bonelynomore.tumblr.com/post/167930093405/sometimes-children-fall-into-your-life-pt1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where it snows humans and Sans meets somebody new.

Snow fell through a few cracks in the ceiling of a large cave, the cave that housed Snowdin and its forest, bringing fresh snow to the Underground. Sometimes other things fell through, a few leafs, a few branches, some stones. Nothing to worry about, they usually made a loud enough sound to be avoided by all inhabitants of that snowy area, scraping over the stone, the sound echoing through the cave. 

Sometimes garbage fell through, newspapers that were too soggy to read, fliers of products you couldn‘t recognize anymore, the ink bleeding in all directions.  
Sometimes clothes fell through, very rarely, but it sometimes happened. Hikers didn‘t go onto that particular mountain, but animals still did.

Sometimes crows stole mittens or hats, dropping them over the mountain, where they slowly moved with the snow, falling into one of the holes.  
Sometimes only dirt fell through, the Mountain snowless for a few months each year, but the climate under it didn‘t change. Monster just didn‘t get any fresh snow.

And sometimes children fell through. Small children, too young to even be up on such a mountain alone. Falling through one of the holes while playing in the snow on top of the mountain.

Frisk was still a small child, they didn‘t know their own age, nobody bothering to ever tell them. They didn‘t know their birthday either. But they always hoped it was somewhere in the spring, they always liked the spring.

They usually didn‘t wander on mountains. They were still too little to get to them themselves, and their parents...well, they usually didn‘t take them anywhere.  
They usually didn‘t do anything nice with them.  
They usually weren‘t very nice to them too.

But Frisk was an optimist, even at such a young age. Everything would be alright someday. After all, their parents took them here today. They could play in the snow all they wanted.

They were just sad that their parents had to leave. They wondered when they would be back, they usually left for completely different periods of time. Sometimes only for a few minutes, and sometimes for the whole day or two.  
Frisk didn‘t like it when they left for long. They always got so hungry and lonely. They were just glad they could reach the sink with a stepping stool to drink something.

They weren‘t angry at their parents about it though. They often heard them yell at each other, often found their mom crying in the on room they shared, the one with the bed and the small TV. Found their dad sobbing in the small bathroom.

They didn‘t understand why they were sad.  
But they knew they left for a long time, whenever they cried like that.

Still Frisk wasn‘t mad at them. They knew something was wrong, something stopped being right so long ago.  
They remembered seeing them laugh long ago before they started yelling, crying and leaving.

But they still wished they would smile and laugh again, that they would stop looking at them with their sad, tearfull eyes.

They let themselves fall back into the snow, breathing hard as they took a rest from rolling around, jumping and running.  
The sun was already starting to set, throwing purples, oranges and reds into the sky. Frisk wondered where their parents were.

They were too young to remember the time their parents left them on a playground, years ago. Too young to properly remember how they crawled through the park, the playground was in, crying, searching for their parents.  
But they were scared, so scared that their parents wouldn‘t come back.

Frisk hiccuped. They couldn‘t talk, they couldn‘t shout for their parents. They just cried, remembering the fear they felt. Where did they go? Why did they leave?

Frisk couldn‘t remember how a nice, old man found them back then, brought them to the police, their parents picking them up only an hour later.

But this time nobody came.

\------

Frisk cried for a long time. They always tried to smile when they were with their parents. Maybe if they smiled, their mum and dad would smile too.  
It didn‘t work. But Frisk felt like they just had to try harder, and then it would.

But now their parents weren‘t there. They left, and something felt different from all the times they left before.  
Something was different. And Frisk knew they wouldn‘t come back.

They got up on their small legs, standing in the middle of the knee-deep snow, shivering, their legs stiff from the cold.  
They had a warm jacket, mittens, a hat, warm sweaters and pants. But they were still starting to freeze, rubbing their hands over their arms.

They have always been very determined, whenever they were alone they went to bed themselves, powered through their fear of the dark. Whenever they wanted something to drink, they climbed the wobbly stepping stool, even though they were afraid of falling.

And that didn‘t change, even on top of the mountain, so far away from home.  
They started moving, fighting through the cold and the snow, one step after the other.  
They would get home somehow.  
They would get home and then...

Would their parents even be there?  
Frisk shook tears out of their eyes.

Would they leave them again?  
Frisk's lip quivered, the first pair of tears spilling onto their cheeks, which were still covered in a thin film of ice.

Would they be even sadder?  
Would they yell more?  
Would they bring them to another place and leave them there again?

Frisk was walking through the snow, their tears blinding them. Part of them didn‘t want to cry again, not right away.  
But they couldn‘t stop.  
They just wanted to get somewhere warm and safe.  
They wanted somebody to be there all the time.  
They wanted to have food and love whenever they needed it.

They just wanted to be loved.

The ground gave way beneath them, Frisk falling through a hole in the ground, taking snow, ice and dirt with them into the dark depths.

\------

Sans stretched, feeling his bones pop, his grin content and lazy. Another day on sentry duty, another day of sitting in the forest and napping. Another day of no human entering the Underground.

But hey, more time to read those car magazines that would pile up otherwise. Sans smiled as he remembered how excited Papyrus got about his racecar bed. He just talked more about different cars and what kind of car he wants to drive on the surface on the day.

And hey, Sans may be a lazy brother, but he tried to be a good brother nonetheless. And if he could actually talk with Papyrus about cars, and make his younger brother happy, then why not.

Sans yawned. Man, naps made him tired. And being tired made him sleepy. And being sleepy made him want to take a nap. It has been minutes since his last one after all.

Sans finished the page of his magazine, folding the corner so he could find it again, before leaning back in his chair and closing his eye sockets.

Something cracked above him. Hm, probably just snow. It came down from time to time, and sometimes it made sounds.  
Maybe a branch or something like that.  
Well, whatever it was, it was far enough away from him, so no reason to care about it.

Whatever it was seemed to be quite heavy too. He heard the branches of the highest trees in the area snap, and creak. Whatever fell from the ceiling got tangled in them, slowing down on it‘s way to the ground.

Well, even less reason to care about it, it fell so far from all sentry stations, nothing to worry about.

It was quiet for a few moments, Sans almost drifting off to sleep, as suddenly a soft whimpering reached his non-existing ears. Whimpering that turned to crying, muffled like trough cotton...or snow?  
It came from the direction of whatever fell from the ceiling.

Now it was a reason to care.

Sans hoisted himself out of his chair, shuffling over to where the crying came from.  
He usually didn‘t take his job too seriously, but he couldn‘t just ignore somebody crying right next to him. Papyrus would be pretty disappointed in him if he did.

\------

„man, those trees really know how to branch out, now don‘t they...hehe“, Sans pushed himself through shrubs and trees, trying to pinpoint where exactly the sobbing was coming from.

He stumbled out on a small clearing, just a few feet wide, looking up at the slightly haggard trees towering over him. Branches were broken or completely ripped off. The snow was shaken off most others.  
Sans walked closer, towards a snowpoff at the foot of the broken trees, branches sticking out of the cold powder, pine needles still raining down on it from above.

The sobs were coming from the snow, or rather what was stuck inside. Something small, something with a voice like a...kid.  
Sans knelt down.

„well buddy, that‘s why you shouldn‘t climb too high, oak-ey?“

Sans brushed the snow away, uncovering a thick jacket and some boots, a pair of small, mitten-covered hands and a face that made Sans flinch away in sudden shock.

That was a human face. On a human body. A small, tiny human.

Sans had never seen a real one, but he has seen pictures, he has seen pictures of adults, pictures of children. And this was definitely not an adult.

The tiny human flinched away too, still crying but muffling the sound with their hand, trying to hide back in into the snow.

Sans face softened.

„hey kid. it‘s ok, i‘m just a bag of bones, won‘t do you any harm.“

Their only response was to cry louder and shiver from the cold.  
Damn, what should he do now?

Yes, ok, he technically had to deliver this human to Undyne immediately, and after that, his job would be done. Or get his brother to do this task, so he could prove himself and become a Royal Guard.

But he couldn‘t carry a small, frightened, and by the look of how they were clutching their arm, also injured human to their death. And he knew Papyrus would rather give up his dream then to let an innocent die. He would try to capture them, but he wouldn‘t deliver them to Undyne.

He never told Papyrus what happens to the humans, but his brother was smart, even if he often pretended to be the be the naive one.

Sans stretched his hand out gently placing it on the small human's shoulder. They flinched away, still stuck in the snow they were unable to properly move away, but they still tried.

Sans sighed. This would be harder than he thought, and all that for a human he didn‘t even know.

But Papyrus would want him to help.

And to be honest....he might be lazy and not care about much, but he still had a heart.

\------

It took long to get the child to trust him enough to let him near them. And even longer until they let him pick them up.  
But after what felt like hours, Sans was carrying a bundle of fabric and child through Snowdin's forest, looking at them with lowered brows, his grin tight with worry.

Technically this was treason. Of course, he wouldn‘t get executed like in one of the movies he once found at the dump. He would probably just lose his job. Monsters were too kind at heart to have severe punishments for anything.

But still.

And then there was the kid, now asleep, exhausted from crying. Their arm was definitely not alright, Sans’ healing magic not doing much. Well, he has always been terrible at it, and he couldn‘t use a lot of magic without passing out cold.

And they were younger than he first thought. He didn‘t know much about humans. They understood what he said, and they could get up and walk, but they were so small, they couldn‘t even communicate back at him and they were just so...so young looking.

They reminded him of Papyrus when he was just a baby bones. Roundish, small, doe-eyed. Just more scared then Papyrus has ever been.

Sans walked by the dog's sentry stations, shortcutting past the ones which were occupied. He couldn‘t really afford the dogs spotting the human, and they had sharp senses of smell, and apart from Doggo, also good eyes.

Sans slid over the ice puzzle, grumbling to himself that he used so much magic for healing, not having enough to teleport to Snowdin directly. Not like his magic did much....  
Even though the kid seemed a bit calmer than before, not clutching their arm with such desperation anymore.

Sans sighed, impulsive decisions weren‘t something he usually made, and this was a great example for why he didn‘t.

He shuffled into town, glad to already see his and Paps’ house in the distance.

The town wasn‘t very big, and most of the time there was only a few people outside, but he still couldn‘t help but press the kid a bit closer to him, hiding their face and making them look like just a lump of fabric.  
He just hoped he didn‘t obstruct the whole breathing thing.

Somehow, greeting everybody with the same, casual way he greeted every day, Sans managed to sneak the human all the way to his house, opening the door, and almost falling inside, hurrying to get away from all kinds stares.

The house was empty. Of course it was. Papyrus never took breaks while he worked...or well, tried to work. Papyrus was more of a junior sentry, didn‘t even have his own station.

But that didn‘t change the fact that he wasn‘t home.  
And Sans really could use his help.

Gently placing the human on the sofa, he sat down next to them, calling his brother on his old, but working cellphone.


	2. Loud skeletons can be pretty intimidating

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a loud skeleton joins.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, so many Kudos and even bookmarks and comment o.o  
> Thank you guys, I hope you enjoy this chapter <3
> 
> It's a tad shorter, but I have to get up early tomorrow, so sadly not that much time today ;-;

Papyrus was in the middle of the woods as suddenly a loud, happy tune filled the air. He flinched away from the source of the sound, before reaching into the pocket of his shorts, fishing out his phone. A new, shiny one, Sans getting his old one after Santa brought him a new one for Christmas.

„GREAT PAPYRUS SPEAKING?“, he shouted into the speaker, posing even if there was nobody who would see that. You could never waste an opportunity to look great and amazing after all.

„yo paps.“

„BROTHER!“

Sans usually didn‘t call him in the middle of the day. The few times he actually did he just pranked him over the phone. Papyrus raised his brows as he heard his brother’s voice, for once missing the usual, amused tone he always spoke in, especially when he was about to prank.

„hey, i know it‘s in the middle of your patrol, but could you come home for a few moments?“

Papyrus sighed.

„SANS, I TOLD YOU TO STOP SLACKING OFF AT HOME. YOU ALREADY TOOK YOUR BREAK TODAY! TWO TIMES!“

Now it was Sans’ turn to sigh. Hu, strange, usually his brother didn‘t sigh.

„i know, i know. but i swear, i‘m not slacking off today.“

Hu, his brother usually also never denied slacking off. Well, alright, he denied it almost every time, but usually with a joke or a pun. Or telling him he was just taking a mandatory break.  
He never denied it with such a serious tone of voice.

„something...happened. and i could really use your help here.“

Papyrus stood up straight, just to turn and run home, immediately.

„bro? you there?“

Sans almost fell off the sofa as the door suddenly flew open, Papyrus storming inside, in a cloud of snow he kicked up and into the living room.

„SANS WHAT HAPPENED!?“

Well, he probably should have phrased it differently, Sans thought while scratching his head awkwardly. Of course Papyrus would get worried.

Sans hung up the phone, getting up from the sofa, and obstructing Papyrus view on the human. Better to be....a bit more gentle with that revelation.

„everything‘s alright bro...well, ok, at least with me.“

Papyrus deflated slightly, relief on his face.

„SANS, YOU KNOW YOU SHOULDN‘T WORRY ME LIKE THAT! YOU ARE QUITE...FRAGILE AFTER ALL.“

Well, ouch. But he was right.

„sorry bro.“

But Papyrus was already looking past Sans, his attention completely diverted from his brother's apology.

„SANS.....WHAT IS THAT?“

Oops.

„well..you know those stories about humans falling down here from the surface?“

„IT‘S A HUMAN?!“

Papyrus’ eyes widened. So much for being a bit more gentle with that.  
Papyrus jumped forward immediately, sweeping Sans away in a slightly protective manner, taking a closer look at something that could be a threat to every monster.

„SANS, YOUR PRANKS ARE GETTING ALMOST AS LAZY AS YOU.“

What? Sans looked at Papyrus for a few moments, frozen, before turning his attention to the human.  
Only to find the sofa empty. Only a small jacket and one single, small boot were still left on it.

„WHO’S CLOTHES ARE THIS EVEN?“

Papyrus picked up the boot, turning it in his hand. He could almost envelop the boot completely when he closed his hand.

„hu?“, Sans really didn‘t know what to say. Where could they have gone? He watched over them the entire time until Papyrus startled him with his rather loud entrance.

„WELL, WHOEVER THEY BELONG TOO, YOU BETTER RETURN THEM FAST. IT SEEMS TO BE ESPECIALLY COLD TODAY, AND THEY COULD REALLY USE THEIR WINTER CLOTHES!“

„uhm...will do, bro.“

Sans shuffled through the room, no human under the table, no human upstairs as far as he could see from here. No human in the kitchen.  
Papyrus, on the other hand, gathered the clothes, placing them in a neat pile on the sofa, before getting ready to leave again.

He looked at Sans with a burning gaze, annoyed at being summoned here just for a silly prank. Sans would definitely not get a double portion of spaghetti tonight.

A soft sobbing made both brothers freeze in their motions.

„SANS?“

Sans gulped, however a skeleton without a throat could do that.

„yeah?“

„IS THIS ALSO PART OF YOUR PRANK?“

„nope.“

Well, it was the truth, especially since there wasn‘t even a prank to begin with.

Sans shuffled over to the kitchen, following the sound like back in the woods.  
Let‘s see where the kid is hiding.

The door of the very tall sink was open, just a crack, but definitely open. And definitely containing a crying, small human.

Sans shoulders slumped in relief. There they were.

Sans stretched out his hand, but Papyrus was faster, jumping between Sans and the sink, ripping open the door with a slam.  
A small, startled scream came out of the darkness in the cupboard under the sink.  
Something shuffled and moved farther into the back.

„SANS...IS THAT...A HUMAN?“

„i‘m pretty sure that it's your sink, bro.“

„SANS NO!“

Sans couldn‘t help but chuckle, Papyrus pouting as he knelt in front of the opening, Sans standing behind him, too lazy to kneel down himself.

No sound escaped from the inside.

„HUMAN! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AND I DEMAND THAT YOU LEAVE MY SINK, SO WE CAN PROPERLY FIGHT AND I CAN CAPTURE YOU!“

There was still no sound, no movement.

Papyrus sighed.

„WELL HUMAN, YOU LEAVE ME NO CHOICE!“

He leaned closer to the opening of the strangely deep cupboard, so deep it could probably hold an entire shrine with funny knick-knack.  
Papyrus eye sockets started glowing, a bright, orange hue, making him look like a jack o'lantern. 

The light wasn‘t too strong but managed to illuminate a small figure, sitting close to the right wall, huddled in a tight ball.

The figure lifted their head, slowly moving forwards.

Sans tried hard to repress his laughter as he watched the small, tiny human crawl towards Papyrus, and stick their hand into his eye sockets, cooing, with a look of pure fascination on their face.

„AH! HUMAN NO!“

Papyrus flinched away, blinking and rubbing his eye sockets. The kid flinched away themselves, Papyrus loud voice and fast motion apparently bursting their bubble of curiosity, leaving them afraid like before.

They crawled back into the darkness, huddling back into a ball, shivering from fear and cold.

„SANS? WHY IS THE HUMAN...VIBRATING?“

„i think they're scared and probably cold. i kind of...found them outside in the snow.“

Papyrus’ face softened immediately, Sans’ soul warming at that. He knew his brother would help, he was just a good bone to the core.

„HUMAN? DON‘T BE AFRAID, I CAN RESCHEDULE THE CAPTURING FOR LATER! FOR NOW, WE NEED TO WARM YOU UP!“

The human didn‘t move.

„HOLD STILL, I won‘t hurt you.“

Papyrus lowered his voice, gently reaching into the cupboard, grabbing the small human. They started flailing immediately, trying to wriggle out of his grasp.

Papyrus picked them, holding them close to himself like a mother would hold their newborn child. Wow, he really got the whole mom thing down already.  
His brother was so cool, Sans thought, his grin widening a bit.

Papyrus let the magic in his eye sockets flare up again, the small human distracted by it right away. They balled their hand into small fists, opening and closing them as they reached for Papyrus skull.

„Brother...why are they so small? Humans are supposed to be menacing, dangerous and have giant swords. They are nothing of it, and they don‘t even have a really small sword. No sword at all.“

Well, Sans wasn‘t an expert on humans, but he still thought they seemed like a child. So small, so uncoordinated, so quiet, not talking, not signing, not singing, no communication at all.

„i think their still a babybones...or well, without the bones i guess.“

Papyrus looked the kid over, eye sockets slowly fizzling out as they seemed to have calmed down a bit.

„Alright...a baby? Hu, I always knew I would be a great mom, but I didn‘t imagine to have my skill tested that soon...or at all.“

Mom? Hu, so Sans was right. He was already doing the whole mom thing.  
But...would they keep the kid?

„Where do you think, are the humans parents?“

„dunno, found the kid in the forest. seem to have fallen from the surface.“

Oh, Sans suddenly remembered why he called Papyrus in the first place.

„paps“, Papyrus carried the kid over to the sofa, sitting down with them while helping them out of the last boot. Can‘t have a child run around in only one boot after all.

„they seem to be...injured? i‘m not sure, and you know my healing magi-..“

His brother's hands were already glowing a bright shade of green, before Sans even managed to finish his sentence, moving over the kids smaller bruises, before resting on their arm.

They flinched away at first, but then looked at his hands with amazement, before looking up at him, eyes wide, but not afraid anymore.

„There! All good and fixed again.“

Papyrus smiled down at them, as they moved their arm carefully, before looking back up at him, eye somehow even larger. Then they lunged forward, hugging Papyrus, their small arms not reaching around his chest plate, but they still tried to with full determination.

„hu, the kid seems to have found a liking to you bro.“

„Of course they have, after all, I am very great..“

Papyrus looked at the small being on his lap, eyebrows knitted together.

„something the matter bro?“

„I...I still have to capture them. Undyne would be furious if I didn‘t...my dream would be so much farther away.“

Oh. Right. They were a human, even if they were small and harmless.

„I...I dreamed so long to be popular. And now I could become a Royal Guard, just by bringing this small..child...to somebody whose opinions on humans are very...well...murdery.“

„hey, you‘re the coolest guy i know. whatever you decide to do, i know it will be the right thing.“

Papyrus stared into space for quite a while, bouncing the kid on his lap slightly, before suddenly jumping up in a fluid motion, grabbing the human’s boots and hurrying outside, scarf trailing behind him like a cape.  
Sans wondered what his brother was up to now.

No harm in watching from afar.

\------

Papyrus placed the child down, just outside the city, helping them put on their boots.

He was so conflicted.  
He never wanted to hurt an innocent. He wanted to join the guard to protect them! And well, to become popular too. But mostly to help those who needed it, to help those who thought they had no chance to become somebody great anymore or ever again.

But he also swore an oath. Swore to report any human sightings to the head of the Royal Guard, no matter what.   
And capturing one would probably give him the best chance he could ever get to be part of the guard. To reach his dream. To do what he always wanted to do, to help everybody who needed it.

He had to at least try.  
But he also had to give the human a chance to fight back, he couldn‘t just take them to Undyne like that.  
Everybody deserved a chance.

„HUMAN!“, he stepped away from them, making his scarf follow him in the most dramatic fashion possible.

„I AM READY TO CAPTURE YOU! LET‘S FIGHT!“

The child retreated back into a shivering ball.

Maybe he shouldn‘t...maybe he...

Papyrus conjured a bone from the floor, moving it towards the kid slowly, eyebrows knit together in worry.

„HUMAN...YOU HAVE TO JUMP OVER IT!“

But the kid wasn‘t moving, frozen in place and shaking like a leave.

„HUMAN...please.“

He shouldn‘t do this, this wasn‘t right, they were still a small child, what harm could they do..?

The bone moved slow, but the kid still stayed in place, silent tears rolling down their cheeks.

„Human...“

The bone passed through them, leaving no damage.  
You couldn‘t hurt somebody with magical attacks if you had no intent to hurt them after all.  
And Papyrus just couldn‘t.

He turned around, hiding his face in his mittens.  
He couldn‘t capture them.  
They were so small, so scared. They couldn‘t even fight back.  
He felt terrible about trying to fight them.

Papyrus breathed in deeply, straightening up, eyes ablaze with determination.  
If he couldn‘t capture them, then he would protect them until they could fight back!

He turned back around, back straight, chest puffed out.

„HUMAN! DON‘T WORRY ABOUT HAVING TO FIGHT BACK! I THE GREa-...“

The human was gone, their footprints slowly getting covered by the falling snow.


	3. Some frozen bones and frozen skin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is why you shouldn't run into a snowstorm headfirst.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woah, so many more people who read it and commented :O  
> I'm blown away!  
> TUMBLR: https://bonelynomore.tumblr.com/post/167930093405/sometimes-children-fall-into-your-life-pt1
> 
> (Also, I do writing and art commissions, if you're interested please contact me over on Tumblr, or take a look at my commission sheet: https://bonelynomore.tumblr.com/post/166736193900/commission-info)

Sans knew his brother would do the right thing. Papyrus always did. That‘s why he was such a cool guy. He could handle himself, but Sans still wanted to see what his younger brother was up to now.  
So he followed him outside, teleporting into the bushes outside of town as his brother stopped and knelt down.

Perfect place to watch but not interfere. Interfering took too much effort anyway.  
Sans sat in the snow, watching Papyrus help the kid put on their boots, their small hands struggling to cooperate in their mittens. He smiled at that scene, feeling his eye sockets slide shut.

He was pretty tired, his second, mid-morning nap, had been interrupted, after all. Before he even noticed it, his eye sockets were closed and he was softly snoring.

Just to startle awake at loud shouting.

„HUMAN? HUMAN!?“

Hu, why was Papyrus shouting like that?

„HUMAN WHERE ARE YOU!?“

Oh shit.

Sans got up with a small grunt, brushing off the snow from his pants and jacket.  
He shuffled over to Papyrus, who was shouting in all directions, frantically running from one part of the road to the other, looking in the forest, and into the town.

„hey bro, why the shouting?“

Papyrus turned on the spot, eye sockets wide, mouth slightly agape.

„OH, SANS!“, his voice was higher than usually, his gaze averting his brothers’, his hands clasping and rubbing against each other.

„I DIDN‘T EXPECTED YOU TO BE HERE...UHM...NOT THAT THERE IS A REASON YOU SHOULDN‘T BE HERE, OF COURSE THERE IS NONE, EVERYTHING IS JUST FINE HERE.“

„oh...where‘s the human?“

„OH...UHM...OH....“, Papyrus looked away, his face falling as sweat slowly beaded on his skull.

„I..WELL...I....“

Oh boy, what happened. Sans was not sure if he should be worried or extra worried.

„THEY ARE....OH SANS! I MESSED EVERYTHING UP!“

Papyrus threw himself at Sans, almost knocking him over in a hug, burying his face in Sans hoodie.

„I JUST WANTED TO CAPTURE THEM! BUT I COULDN‘T JUST CAPTURE THEM AND NOT GIVE THEM A CHANCE TO DEFEND THEMSELVES, IT WOULDN‘T HAVE BEEN FAIR OTHERWISE!“

Sans patted his brother’s back. Oh man, Papyrus was always to enthusiastic, even being such a cool guy, always tried to find the best solution, but always got carried away and ended up not completely thinking things through.

"BUT I CHANGED MY MIND, THEY ARE JUST NOT READY TO DEFEND THEMSELVES! BUT I STILL MESSED UP!"

He always got carried away and made mistakes, but he usually made the right decision at the end. That was what Sans always admired Papyrus for.

„don‘t worry bro, you can definitely fix this. and hey, i‘m on break so i can even help you.“

Papyrus howled into Sans’ shoulder, making the other wince at the sudden, loud noise.

„NO! YOU DON‘T UNDERSTAND! I LOST THE HUMAN!“

„oh.“

Oh indeed. That was not good, that was really not good. Very far from good. They were so small, and not even wearing their jacket.

„bro, chill....hehe...no, but seriously. it will be alright. you always tell me that, don‘t you? so time for me to remind you of it for a change.“

Papyrus pulled away from the hug, holding Sans at his shoulders.

„YES BROTHER! I DON‘T KNOW WHAT I WAS THINKING! OF COURSE, I CAN FIX THIS, I KNOW I CAN! ESPECIALLY WITH YOUR HELP!“

„there we go, knew you wouldn‘t drown in despair for long.“

„THERE WAS NO DROWNING INVOLVED....UNLIKE THE WAY YOU USUALLY HANDLE TERRIBLE SITUATIONS.“

Well, he was right. Sans usually gave up before trying. Papyrus, on the other hand, wailed and despaired a bit, just to fix everything with double the motivation.

„NOW LET‘S GO AND SEARCH THE HUMAN.“

Sans just shrugged as he was swept off his feet, Papyrus running off into the distance, with him under his arm.

„THERE, I CAN STILL SEE THEIR FOOTPRINTS!“

The footprints were slowly disappearing, the snowfall getting stronger with each passing minute.  
Until Papyrus suddenly stopped, only seeing his own footprints behind him, and fresh snow all around.

„SANS!“

Sans let himself fall in the snow, face first.

„guess we lost track of their...well, tracks.“

„NOT NOW SANS! WE HAVE TO SPLIT UP! OR WE WILL NEVER FIND THEM!“

„ok.“

Sans got up, shrugging snow off his shoulders.

„AND GET THEIR JACKET WITH ONE OF YOUR SHORTCUTS, THEY HAVE TO BE FROZEN TO THE BONE.“

„hehe, good one.“

„NO PUNS! NOT EVEN FROM MYSELF. THIS IS TOO SERIOUS FOR PUNNY CONVERSATIONS!“

And off he was, leaving clouds of snow in his wake as he sprinted deeper into the forest.

______

Sans appeared in the living room, hearing the windows clatter gently at the building snowstorm outside. They really had to find the kid fast, and they had to get them bundled up for the way home.  
Even teleporting took time.

Sans grabbed the jacket from the couch, stuffing it partly into the pocket inside his hoodie-jacket. Something rustled as he moved to port back into the forest, Sans looking down at a small piece of paper on the floor.

„hu? did that kid come with instructions?“

Chuckling at his own joke, Sans picked up the paper. He stopped laughing.

Their name is Frisk.  
Please take care of them, whoever you are.  
Don‘t try to find us.  
Please, just love them as much as we did, but give them a better life.

The kid got abandoned. By their own parents. Sans felt his soul grow cold at that. But at the same time, he didn‘t know the full story.  
Even being a judge, he couldn‘t really judge them, not without knowing all the information. The same way he couldn‘t judge anybody at his job, without knowing enough about them.

But what he could do, was sympathize with the kid.

He had to help find them. Nobody should be alone. Sans didn‘t know what he would do without Papyrus, or his friends and the lady behind the door.  
Even if they were a human he barely knew, he had to help.  
Papyrus seemed to have a pretty good influence on him.

Sans placed the note next to his pet rock, giving him a few pats on the sprinkle-covered side, before porting back to the forest.

As he arrived there, he saw snow. Lot‘s of snow. Too much snow. The snowstorm was really not kidding around. Sans pulled up his hood, trying to cover his eye sockets at least partially.

It didn‘t really work, making him cough out the snow, that came in through his sockets. Gross. But kind of funny.

Wow, he couldn‘t see anything through the snow, and he couldn‘t even yell for them. He has never really been a yeller. More of a quiet and calm talker.

„hey! kid!“

Yop, not a yeller, his voice barely even penetrate the wall of snowflakes in front of him.  
Well, seems like he actually has to move. What a shame.

Sans walked through the thick snow, through the storm of snowflakes, avoiding trees and shrubs, hitting his head on some branches here and there.  
„ouch, what a tree-chery this is, i trusted you guys, hehe..“

No better way to get warm than through puns.  
Hu, he was actually getting rather..cold. Sans never knew he actually could get cold like that.  
But he also usually didn‘t wander through a snowstorm, after draining a large amount of his magic.

Shit, that was maybe a really terrible idea. Papyrus would have shooed him back home immediately.  
But Papyrus didn‘t know. And the kid was still out there somewhere, probably freezing half to death.

Sans continued walking, his usually lazy, shuffling steps, dragging more and more with each step. Man, he was really getting bone tired here. The trees in front of his eyes, already blurry from the snowfall, focused and unfocused, his eyelights fizzling like a broken neon lamp.

He was really cold now, he could hear his own bones rattle against each other, his fingers and feet numb, the sludge in his slippers melting and freezing again, making them stick to his socks, and his socks to his bones.

Maybe he should just sit down for a second. Just recharge his magical batteries, so to say. Paps probably already found the kid, it wouldn‘t hurt to just take a quick rest.

Sans let himself slide to the ground before he even noticed that he wasn‘t walking anymore. Even sitting was exhausting. Sans let himself slide even further until he was lying in the snow, on his back.

The snow kept falling into his eyesockets, but he just didn‘t care anymore, his eyelights fizzling out.

Just a quick nap.

\------

Papyrus was running through the forest, calling his brother with his phone. Lazy bag of bones wasn‘t picking up. Maybe he even left his phone at home! And in such a situation!

Papyrus was outraged and worried. More worried then outraged. He really wished there was a word that combined them both, so he could shout it into the falling snow.

And he couldn‘t find the human either! He hoped so much that Sans found them, but how he knew his brother he was probably napping somewhere or eating that terribly greasy food.

No...even he wouldn‘t slack off if somebody‘s life was at stake, even if it was a human life.

Papyrus flailed his hands, trying to get a clear view, but unable to swat away all those snowflakes. The human has to be somewhere here, and he would search the entire forest if he had too.

Luckily, he didn‘t have to.

Even through all the snow, he suddenly saw something moving. Slow, but moving.  
A description that would usually fit his brother, but the figure in front of him was definitely smaller than Sans.

„HUMAN!“

The figure froze, before moving again, apparently fighting through the deep snow with all their strength.

„HUMAN WAIT!“

Papyrus sprinted towards them, catching them just as they started stumbling and falling. He gently picked them up from the ground, slowly stroking their back to calm them down as they struggled against his grip.

„HUMAN, I AM SO SORRY. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ADMIT TO HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE. AND I WANT TO DO EVERYTHING IN MY POWER TO MAKE IT RIGHT AGAIN!"

They were still struggling. They had probably a few problems in trusting him after he threw bones at them.  
Papyrus ignited his eyesockets again, the orange glow falling onto the human’s face.

But this time they didn‘t calm down. Not like before at least. They did stop struggling, but they were still crying, frozen tears on their pale face, avoiding his gaze.

„Human“, Papyrus lowered his voice. „Human, I am terribly sorry for what happened. But I believe that everything is fixable, and I swear by my honour as an almost Royal Guard, that I will make it up to you.“

They looked at him, tears finally stopping. They were listening to him. That‘s a start.

„I think the best way to start is by offering my friendship to you. So human, do you accept?“

They looked at him for some more time, Papyrus starting to sweat again. Oh no, did he miss the friendzone?

The human stuck their hand into his eyesocket, laughing quietly. That seems to be a yes.

Jackpot, he hit the friendzone spot on, the best-friendzone was just a step away now.

But he had something more important to do first.

The human was shivering, their face pale and covered with snow and ice. Undynes’ friend, Alphy often got very pale when she came to Snowdin, and that was never good. So maybe it was the same for humans?  
They sneezed. Yes, definitely not good.

He had to get them home and that fast. Papyrus pressed the child against his chest and sprinted off. He was just glad he was so great, that even his sense of orientation was just great.

He was storming out of the forest at incredible speed, just a few moments later, the human almost limp in his arms now. They even stopped shivering, and Papyrus felt like this was not a good thing.

He kicked the door open, shutting it behind him with his foot, pushing heaps of snow into the house. He laid the human on the couch, carefully pulling off their frozen, wet clothes.

He was just glad most of the outer sweaters, and the snow pants kept out the moisture, the t-shirt and leggings beneath still bone dry. They definitely didn‘t have any child-sized clothes. And he would have felt very wrong in undressing a small child he barely knew.

The human just lay on the couch, limp but at least shivering again, at least some kind of movement.

Papyrus sprinted upstairs, pulling the blanket from his bed, and grabbing the few extra blankets they had, cranking up the radiator to the highest setting on the way back to the living room.  
Better get the entire house nice and toasty.

Papyrus lifted up their small body carefully, placing one of the blankets beneath them.  
They were really not looking good, their eyes bleary, half-lidded, their lips a purplish shade of blue.

Papyrus’ hands glowed green. He placed his palms on their torso, slowly seeping his magic into their small body. Their shivering started to get less severe, and this time it actually seemed to be a good thing.

But healing magic was usually for closing wounds and stabilizing HP. Some very good healers could even raise the HP properly, most others had to rely on monster food.  
And so it did little in warming the human up.

Papyrus waddled them into the first blanket, placing the other two on top, cushioning their head on one of the pillows Sans often left on the couch.

Their lips were slowly starting to turn a reddish colour again, and Papyrus sighed. What else could he do? Maybe...he should run to the shop and ask for some help.  
Skeletons usually didn‘t almost freeze to death after all.

\------

Sans woke up and felt like death. And that was not thanks to his rather bony looks, but to the fact that he honestly felt like he might be dying. He has never felt this bad in his life, he could guarantee that.

He opened his eyesockets and saw nothing, just plain darkness. He moved his fingers, his hands, but it felt like he was moving somebody else‘s appendages, like there was cotton or fog between every bone in his body and his mind.

Not only that, but it was so exhausting to just move those few digits. He was already feeling like going back to sleep. But he couldn‘t, he had to get up and find the human...or find Papyrus...or just get home and wait for them.

He sat up slowly, a task which took so much longer than usual and was so much more tiring. Snow fell off of him, and out of his skull, the ice crystals scratching over the bones in his skull, making him wince weakly.  
Even wincing was exhausting.

As soon as he managed to sit up, he was already falling back onto the floor, his head spinning. He felt completely numb, his body like a detached entity.

He closed his eyes again.

Maybe he can just sleep this off....


	4. Warm human, cold Skeleton

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where a frozen bag of bones get's finally found, and hopefully soon defrosted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhhh, even more people reading this. Hi you all! You are all amazing, I'm so happy you seem to enjoy this °///°
> 
> (Also, I do writing and art commissions, if you're interested please contact me over on Tumblr, or take a look at my commission sheet: https://bonelynomore.tumblr.com/post/166736193900/commission-info)

Papyrus was running back from the shop, hands full of bags, bags filled with medicine, monsterfood and two electrical heating pads. Two are better then one after all.  
The shopkeeper was very helpful after he told her what happened, even though she raised her brows in disapproval a few times.

Thankfully, her sister the innkeeper had kids and gave Papyrus some advice on handling a small child. And a bag with a few, old clothes her kids grew out off. Only a woolen hat, a pair of shirts, a pair of pants and a pair of pajamas, but more than Papyrus hoped for.

He opened the door, quieter than he usually did, afraid to startle the human again, closing it with a soft sound, taking a quick look at the child.  
They were asleep, the color slowly returning to their face, their breathing deep but....weirdly rattling. Papyrus furrowed his brows in worry. This is not how breathing was supposed to sound like, right?

Skeletons didn‘t really need to breathe, it was more a thing they did to feel more comfortable and because it often...startled people when somebody wasn‘t breathing next to them.

Papyrus tucked them in a bit tighter, patting them on the head gently, before running into the kitchen. The innkeeper told him to make soup for them, to warm them up, so spaghetti will have to wait for another time.

Papyrus was not too bad of a cook....well, if by too bad you meant that it was almost edible. But soup was a simple thing, so it turned out actually edible. Papyrus just dumped some carrots and noodles into some broth, smiling to himself that he still managed to get noodles into this meal.

The soup was salty and somehow didn‘t tasted like broth at all, but it was warm and not burnt, so to the human it went. Papyrus even tried his self cooked food for the first time, making sure it was warm, but not too hot. After all he had to make sure it wasn‘t too hot for the small child.

He wondered if the soup tasted so terrible because he hadn‘t cooked any ever before.  
Naa, it had to be the fact that he had no tongue. His food tasted great after all. Like him!

Getting the human to eat something was harder. Papyrus sat on the couch next to them, propping them up carefully, trying to wake them up enough to get some soup into them.

„Human?“, better be quiet, if they started struggling again, he would spill all the soup. Also, friends didn‘t startle friends...well, ok, they startled them with surprise suplexes.   
But the human looked way too small for that.

They slowly opened their eyes, looking up at him, with a hint of fear.

„Human! You are awake! Here, I made you soup!“

They looked at the bowl in his hands, sniffing the air, just to sneeze. Sniffing wasn‘t really working out right now.

But their eyes still widened in wonder, sitting up a bit straighter. They looked like they have never been fed soup before. But who wouldn‘t make their kid some soup, or other warm food?

The bowl was empty almost instantly, and the kids face finally returned back to it‘s skin colored state.   
Phew, crisis averted!

The human coughed, gasping for breath, making Papyrus drop the empty bowl onto the floor, the spoon following with a clank.  
Well, ok, almost.

Papyrus hurried back into the kitchen, searching through the bags to find some medicine, reading the instructions carefully. He has barely taken any ever in his entire life, he has always been rather healthy.

And even Sans, who has always been rather frail and weak, has rarely had to take any. It wasn‘t really a skeleton thing.

If a skeleton got sick, there was usually something wrong with their magic. Like, if a skeleton managed to get to cold, their magic could freeze too. And then it would try to warm itself up, by giving the skeleton a fever.

\------

Sans woke up in the snow, feeling like somebody lit him on fire. Maybe somebody did, and he would dust so he wouldn‘t have to feel even worse then before he fell asleep.

He rolled on his side, too exhausted to sit up, groaning slightly. What is going on? All of his bones were aching, he was shivering, but he was feeling hotter than the one time he accidentally slept in Hotland for a whole day.

How long has he been here? Did Papyrus find the human again? And how was he supposed to get home?

Sans slowly rolled onto his stomach, getting up on shaky knees, propping himself up with his hands. The snow beneath him seemed to swirl and twirl in interesting patterns, his head feeling heavy and light at the same time.

He shook his head, feeling like he had still snow stuck in his head. Or cotton. Or maybe a squirrel, like that one time he took a nap in the woods.

He was so dizzy already, and shaking his head just made it worse, the disorientation sending him, face first, back into the snow with a splat.

Sans groaned into the snow. Well, he wasn‘t getting home this way, that was for sure.

He fished for his phone, his hands clumsy and shaking, missing his pocket a couple of times before he finally got it.   
Dialing was harder than he imagined.  
After he managed to turn his head enough to see his phone, the numbers started doubling and tripling in front of his eyes.  
And his fingers just wouldn‘t hit. Usually, his aim was pretty good, but now he couldn‘t even dial his brother's number.

He shouldn‘t have been too lazy to save it into his phone book after all.

Finally, after what felt like a hot, terrible eternity, Sans pressed the button with the little, green receiver, placing his brick of a phone to where his ear would be.

„p-..paps..“

Has his voice always been so faint and raspy?

\------

Papyrus managed to convince the human to take some of the medicine, even though it tasted like old socks and rotten leafs.  
The human didn‘t seem too thrilled about it either.

No better way to fix this, than through a Papyrus hug!  
The human almost disappeared in his grasp, they were so small. But they giggled.  
Papyrus was never so happy about hearing a sound before.

„SEE HUMAN! HUGS MAKE EVERYTHING ALRIGHT AGAIN!“

The human sneezed and yawned.  
Papyrus laid them back down again, tucking them in, and fluffing up their pillow.

The human drifted off to sleep as Papyrus walked into the kitchen again to clean up and get some tasty oatmeal for himself.  
Ah, shucks! He completely forgot about the new pyjamas the innkeeper gave him.

Well, he could just place them on the table for now and give the pyjamas to the human when they woke up again.

„HU?“

Papyrus dropped the bag on the table, careful not to hit Rocky, the lazy name Sans gave to his pet rock.  
He completely missed the note on the table, was it from Sans? And why would Sans leave a note?

Papyrus picked it up, stiffening a gasp as he read it.  
This wasn‘t from Sans. This was the humans, there could be no other explanation.

Tears formed in his eyesockets, Papyrus wiping them away angrily. The human was all alone, and what did he do. He fought them, instead of helping them. He made them run away into a snowstorm.

Papyrus set his face in a grim, determined expression, placing the note into the breastplate of his battle body.   
He couldn‘t change the past, but he could be the best Papyrus he has ever been!  
He would take care of this human, no matter what it took.

While talking about taking care of somebody....were was Sans?

„I SWEAR, IF THAT LAZY BUTTBONE IS AT GRILLBYS, INSTEAD OF COMING BACK HOME, I WILL PERSONALLY THROW HIM ALL THE WAY TO NEW HOME....“

Papyrus grumbled to himself, as his phone's ringtone suddenly filled the air, startling him like only a few hours before. He really had to change the ringtone...or at least its volume.

„YES, GREAT BUT SLIGHTLY STARTLED PAPYRUS SPEAKING!“

„p-..paps..“

Papyrus’ eyesockets widened. It didn‘t sound like Sans was at Grillbys. This didn‘t sound like burger-eating Sans, or like tipsy Sans. It also didn‘t sound like almost asleep Sans.

„BROTHER? ARE YOU ALRIGHT!?“

There was a weak cough at the other end, but no answer, just some rustling, like something hit the receiver.

„SANS?!“

Papyrus voice cracked with worry. It wasn‘t unusual for Sans to fall asleep while on the phone, but everything about this seemed wrong.

There was a startled sound at the other end, more rustling.

„o-..oh, sorry...seem to ha...-ve..have fallen asleep for a second there...“

Sans voice grew quieter and quieter, just for more rustling to fill the Papyrus nonexistent ears.

„SANS WAKE UP!“

Papyrus shouted into the phone, worried and angry. Worried about Sans, and angry at him for falling asleep in such a worrisome situation.

This time, there was only faint mumbling on the other end.

Papyrus hung up, shoving his phone back into his pocket. The human, woken through Papyrus’ worried shouts, looked at him with confusion from under the blanket. They hid beneath it. Where they afraid of shouting?

Papyrus kneeled down beneath them.

„I'M SO-...uhm...I‘m sorry human. I will try not to shout that much anymore. But I have to go and find a very lazy sack of bones, who is probably in trouble. Can you wait here, and stay under the blankets?“

They freed their head, their hair poofing into all directions, as they nodded and cuddled up in the warm, soft blankets with a small smile.

Papyrus threw back a rather shaky smile in return, before jumping up and sprinting out of the house, making sure to still close the door softly.

Papyrus looked into Grillbys through the window, a part of him hoping that it was just a very tasteless prank, and Sans was sitting at the bar like almost every day.   
But no. No Sans.

Papyrus kept sprinting, checking all of Sans’ sentry stations. After all, it was the place he fell asleep most of the time.

But no Sans there. At none of his stations.  
At any other time, Papyrus would have been proud about sprinting all over the Underground in only a few minutes, but he was too occupied with worrying about his brother.

Where could he be? He hasn‘t seen him since they split up to search for the human, and Sans wasn‘t resuming his sentry duty like a responsible skeleton (which he wasn‘t), not at Grillbys like an irresponsible skeleton (which he was), and not at home like a lazy skeleton (which he also was).

Could he...really still be in the forest? But why? Why should he stay in the forest and nap there...unless...  
Papyrus healed the human, but who says Sans didn‘t try too?  
If he did he would never have enough magic to teleport back!

And as well as Papyrus knew his brother, he would have never told him about his low magic, just so he wouldn‘t worry Papyrus.

„YOU STUPID, STUPID BONE!“

Papyrus shouted into the forest as he ran. Why did his brother always keep his problems to himself?!  
It just always made everything worse!

He ran a bit faster. It was already getting dark, but that couldn‘t demotivate him. His brother had to be here somewhere!

But the forest was large, and it took hours to find the human. And they couldn‘t run very fast or teleport.  
But, to be honest, neither could Sans at the time.  
He should still be rather close.

Papyrus suddenly tripped over a large snowpoff, flying face first onto the ground. What the..?!

It wasn't a snowpoff.   
It was Sans, lying face down in the snow, unmoving.

„Sans...?“

Papyrus’ voice was just a whisper, his hand stretching out gently, afraid to actually touch his brother. Afraid he would break through the touch.

His brother always moved in his sleep, always breathed gently, sometimes he even giggled. But now he was just as frozen as the snow around him.

„SanS thIS isN‘T F-..FunNY..!“

Papyrus voice shook, as he crawled closer to his brother, finally gripping his shoulder, and turning him around.  
His eyesockets were open and empty, his eyelights out, his face flushed a strange blue.  
He was hot to the touch as Papyrus stroked under and above his eyesocket, trying to get rid of the snow stuck there.

Sans didn't react.

„SANS, BROTHER, PLEASE! WAKE UP!“, Papyrus shook him gently, not knowing what else to do, his brain completely empty except for pure, horrifying fear.

„SANS! PLEASE! YOU CAN NAP AT HOME! I EVEN LET YOU SLACK OFF THE ENTIRE DAY..EVEN THE Entire week, brother just please wake up, wake up, wake up.....“

Papyrus was holding Sans close to him, trying to hold his tears back while gently brushing off snow from his clothes and bones in a rhythmic movement.

He was rocking forward and backwards, trying to clear his head. But he was just unable to get the image of his brother still, frozen face out of his head. Even while Papyrus was hiding his own face in his brother's furry collar.

„b-..bro...“

Papyrus pushed Sans away from him, keeping his grip on his brother's shoulders, tears finally falling, but not from grief but relief.

„SANS YOU ARE AWAKE!“

Sans eyelights were dim and flickering, he flinched away from Papyrus shout.

„bro...g‘nna get up, j‘st...don‘t shout like that..“

„WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

„mhh..i‘m not gunna be..l-..late bro..chill..“

Papyrus raised his brows. What? Why was his brother so strange...well, stranger than normal?

Papyrus felt Sans’ face again, Sans leaning into his hand heavily. He was really warm, not bone warm, and definitely not lying in the snow for hours warm.

Papyrus remembered how Sans once got a fever as a kid after he fell into the river near Snowdin. It wasn‘t too bad, but Sans’ rather bad health made it last forever, his magic warming itself up only very slowly after cooling down through the water.

And he had read a lot of books in his life. Papyrus remembered monsters who were able to get a fever could get delirious when it was severe enough.

Oh no!

Papyrus gathered Sans in his arms, hearing his bones rattle as he pressed himself closer to Papyrus, grabbing onto his scarf weakly.

Papyrus had to get him home and warmed up as fast as possible! Or his magic would completely tear itself apart trying to warm itself up.

Papyrus jumped up, doing without the heroic pose this time, the situation too serious even for that, sprinting back the way he came from.

He was just glad he got two heating pads, he really didn‘t want to take away the human’s...no, Frisk’s.


	5. Warm blankets, comfy cuddles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where some skeletons and a human watch some TV.  
> Nothing could go wrong now, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, so nice to finally add the Undyne tag :3c

Sans woke up feeling fuzzy and hot. Even hotter than before. Something thick and warm was lying on top of him, something even warmer beneath him.  
Was this hell? Or did he fall asleep in Hotland and fell into the lava on accident?

He tried to push whatever was on him off of him, but his arms and legs seemed not to cooperate, like they were made out of jelly. And it was so exhausting to move them, almost as exhausting as opening his eye sockets.  
Did he close them? When did he close them? Or were they open?

His face was weirdly numb, as was his entire body. Was he lying? Was he sitting? Was he standing? He didn‘t know.  
Where was he even? His brain was so slow, like somebody poured that sticky, sweet breakfast syrup onto it.  
Did he even have a brain?

Maybe it wasn‘t time for existential questions right now, he was still trapped under this heavy, hot thing. And it just wouldn‘t get off.

Instead, somebody just pressed it closer to him, large hands pushing it even closer to his body.

„Sans, stop fussing. You need to warm up, or your fever will get even worse!“

He knew that voice...did he knew that voice? Maybe he knew that voice, but he just couldn‘t be sure.

He was still so tired, and he was trapped in this warmth, unable to get away, the struggle just making him more tired.

Confused and tired, he drifted off again.

Only a bit over an hour later, Sans woke up again. Still exhausted and tired, but freezing cold from skull to toes. What..what was happening? Where did that hot feeling go?

His head was slightly clearer, but everything still felt and sounded farther away than it probably was.  
That warm thing beneath him was still there, Sans huddling closer to it, rolling into a ball of rattling bones.

The heavy thing on top of him...was a blanket, he was sure of it now. And he was lying on something soft and lumpy, something very familiar.  
He was on his mattress.

But how did he get here, and why was he so goddamn cold and tired? He felt like every last ounce of energy was drained from him, but the draining didn‘t stop there.  
He felt like he had a negative amount of energy, like he lost more energy then he even had to begin with.

He...had been in the forest. He had searched for the human. And then....he remembers waking up, feeling terrible, and waking up again feeling like he was burning alive.  
He remembers arms around him...

Did Papyrus get him home?  
Sans smiled with still closed eyes. Of course he did. His brother was just the best.

And that would explain why he was so cold. Sans remembered how he once fell into the river, his magic freezing. He got a fever, his magic trying to warm itself up until he was bundled up in blankets by somebody whose face he just couldn‘t remember.  
He remembers feeling hot at first but then freezing cold, as his magic stopped warming itself up, accepting the warmth of the blankets and hot water bottle instead.

He remembered a voice telling him he would be warm soon, but it was too dangerous for his magic to strain itself like that, especially if it was low.

But who told him that...?

He coughed, harshly. Man, he didn‘t even knew he could cough. Probably a side effect of breathing with magical lungs...

Sans buried his face deeper into his pillow. He didn‘t care about that right now, he was too cold and tired for that.

He was still exhausted, still fuzzy, but unable to go back to sleep. Something rather new to him. But he also has never been so cold, his bones aching in weird ways and places.

But just because he couldn‘t go back to sleep, didn‘t mean he would get up. No way in hell would he leave his warm bed now, he would probably freeze solid the moment he sat up.

Sans lay there and listened. He could hear the TV murmuring downstairs. He could hear his brother’s voice, chuckling as he recognized Papyrus „inside voice“. His brother could never talk quietly, even if he tried.

He heard another voice, only sometimes giggle, coo or babble in return. Hu, seems the human was rather lively actually. Sometimes he heard a small sneeze or cough. And seems like they got as frosty as he did.

Sans decided to join them in a bit....just...just 5 more minutes.

\------

Papyrus was sitting on the couch, Frisk on his lap, still bundled up in a blanket, like in a cocoon. They were babbling and gesticulating wildly, apparently trying to tell him something very amazing and interesting.

Papyrus didn‘t understand a thing. But he still nodded and answered something whenever they made a pause. He was a very great conversationalist, so even if he didn‘t understand a word, he would still answer!

Suddenly Frisk froze in the middle of a gesture, hands sinking into their lap as they looked up to the second floor of the house.  
There was the click of a door opening and shutting again, and shuffling, sock-covered feet, followed by something dragging over the floor.

Socked feet appeared, missing their signature slippers for once, Sans sitting down on the top step, huffing like he just ran a marathon.

„SANS! YOU SHOULD BE IN BED AND WARMING UP!“

„sorry bro, but seems like i‘m even too lazy to sleep right now.“, Sans sounded slightly out of breath. „man...has walking always been this exhausting?“

Papyrus raised his brows, knitting them together in disapproval.

„YOU SHOULDN‘T WALK AROUND RIGHT NOW, YOUR MAGIC IS VERY LOW, YOU COULD STUMBLE AND FALL...“

„well, guess i won‘t walk then..“

There was a pop followed shortly by a crash, Sans landing on the floor in front of Papyrus together with a blanket, eyesocket scrunched shut and breathing ragged.

„ow, ok...not doing that again...“

„SANS! WHAT DID YOU NOT UNDERSTAND ABOUT ‘LOW MAGIC‘ ?“

„well....the beginning...and kind of the middle...and a bit of the end...“

„SANS!“

Sans chuckled breathlessly.

Frisk followed with a giggle. They were watching the whole thing with a small and twinkle to their eyes, Sans hasn‘t seen before. Seems like they really warmed up to Papyrus.

„SANS, THIS ISN‘T FUNNY! I HAVE BEEN VERY WORRIED ABOUT YOU...AND...and I still am. You could still get a fever again if you don‘t warm up properly....“

Sans’ face fell slightly, softening a bit. He should have known, his bro was always a bit overprotective, mostly because of Sans’ low health.

„bro, everything is fine. see, i have my blanket and everything.“

„I know, I know...BUT STAYING ON THE FLOOR IS NO GOOD AT ALL! GET YOUR LAZY BUTT UP HERE!“

Sans got up with a huff and a wheeze, flopping down next to Papyrus on the couch, pulling his blanket tighter around himself, shivering a bit, leaning against Papyrus for warmth and some brotherly affection.

Papyrus leaned slightly against Sans, giving him a brief, one-armed hug, unable to go for the full hug with Frisk on his lap.

Sans returned the hug, as he suddenly felt a weight around his middle, looking down to see Frisk, hugging him, with their face buried in his soft belly.  
They pulled away almost immediately, patting his middle with vigour, grabbing his bony arm for comparison, looking up at him questioningly.

„he, guess i‘m growing soft on you, aren‘t i?“

„SANS NO!“

Frisk giggled, retreating back into their blanket burrito.

„THEY WERE WORRIED ABOUT YOU TOO, YOU KNOW.“

„sorry bro...and sorry to you too.“

Sans ruffled their hair, earning a giggle and small hands swatting at him.

„so...what‘re you watching?“

„METTATONS COOKING SHOW! FRISK SEEMS TO ENJOY IT GREATLY!“

„frisk?....oh.“

„YES...I....I FOUND THE NOTE.“

Papyrus face was grim as he thought about the piece of paper that he was now carrying in his clothes.

„yeah...it‘s...not really good, is it.“

„YES...“

Frisk made a squeaky noise, drawing both brothers attention towards themselves.

„so...you still want to capture them...or...“

„NO! THEY HAVE NOBODY ELSE, SO IT IS NOW OUR RESPONSIBILITY TO RAISE THEM TO AN AMAZING HUMAN!“

Sans grinned. Of course, Papyrus would go full mom mode, such a nerd.

„well, guess we have a human now. wonder what they eat...“

„MY AMAZING SPAGHETTI, OF COURSE! EVERYBODY LOVES IT!“

Sans cringed slightly at that thought. Burnt spaghetti wasn‘t really something you fed to a small child.....but he also couldn‘t tell his brother his food sucked, that just wasn‘t something he wanted to do.  
Hm...

„uhm...bro. i don‘t think babies can actually eat spaghetti.“

„HU? REALLY? HOW DO YOU KNOW?“

„uhm....read it in the librarby...“

„HMMM....“

Oh, he wasn‘t believing him, was he?

„YES, OF COURSE! BABYBONES EAT OATMEAL!“

Well, not the best thing, but better.

„yeah, that could work.“

Frisk yawned, laying down on top of Papyrus, resting their head on Sans’ lap.

Sans threw Papyrus a look, pointing at the human with a head tilt.

„WELL....THEY ARE PART OF OUR FAMILY NOW, AREN‘T THEY? NO WONDER THEY GREW ON YOU! YOU ARE A VERY ROUND AND SOFT BROTHER AFTER ALL!“

Sans smiled gently. Hu, another baby bones to raise didn‘t sound like a too terrible fate. A part of him always missed the days when Papyrus was just a small pile of bones, running through the house and napping on Sans.

He patted Frisk on the head, they just yawning again, cuddling up further into his blanket-covered lap.

Yeah, he could live with being a big brother for another kid.  
And looking at Papyrus’ beaming face, his bro could too.

They sat in silence for some time, watching the show, the only sounds coming from the TV and Sans’ still rattling bones.

\------

Papyrus was the first one to wake up, always only sleeping for two or three hours a night, honestly surprised at himself for just falling asleep like that on the couch. And even for so long! A whole 4 hours!

Well, he did sprint all over the Underground yesterday, repeatedly. That would take its toll on everybody, even on somebody as great as him.

Sans was softly snoring next to him, Papyrus placing his bare hand on his brother's arm, and on his forehead, sighing as he felt the usual bony warmth skeletons radiated.

Frisk was curled up between them both, one leg on Sans lap, one sticking up in the air, leaning against the backrest of the sofa, their head pushing against Papyrus’ leg.

Papyrus smiled and got up, covering them both with the blankets again, all blankets seemed to have slid to the floor for the most part.

He went upstairs, showering quickly and blow-drying his battle body.  
Sneaking downstairs again, he prepared some breakfast oatmeal for everybody, stopping himself from making spaghetti as he remembered what Sans said.

He put the oatmeal on the table, eating his portion quickly before putting on his boots and storming outside.  
Sans was in no shape to work, but that didn‘t mean Papyrus could just stay home too. He had work to do.

He sprinted past a couple of the dogs, Lesser dog and the Dogi, as Dogamy shouted after him, Papyrus stopping and jogging back.

„Hey, Papyrus!“

„YES! PAPYRUS IS I!“

„Where are you going?“

Dogaressa was looking him over, from head to toe.

„WELL, I AM GOING TO MY SENTRY STATION OF COURSE!“

Well, his cardboard station at least. He was just a junior Sentry, so he had no station of his own yet, but he was still doing proper sentry work.

„It‘s weekend pupper, only the weekend sentry‘s are working today.“

Oh, it is? He completely forgot in all the chaos!

„OH!...Also please don‘t call me pupper.“

„Sorry, just a habit.“

Dogamy chuckled as Dogaress pulled her hood a bit deeper in her face. She was calling everybody who was younger than her pupper.

Papyrus waved goodbye, running back home. Well, a weekend was just what he needed right now!

He snuck inside, careful not to wake the two on the couch, actually allowing Sans to nap longer for once.  
Papyrus fished out some gold out of the jar they kept their savings in, sprint-sneaking outside again.

Well, the human needed their own room, they couldn‘t stay sleeping on the couch forever after all. And they did have an old, small room they used to store some things, but they had no bed, no toys.  
Children needed those, right? Papyrus remembered having toys and a bed, and a closet, all colourful and nice.

He ran to the nice man in Waterfall....Gerson was his name. He often builds furniture for those who asked, out of scarps he found at the dump, Papyrus asking him to build a bed for his new, small child.

Then he ran to the dump himself, searching for small, child-sized clothes, toys and anything that could help him raise a child.

He found a soft toy, a turtle that only needed a few holes stitched, something Sans could do no problem. After all, he helped make Papyrus battle body, Papyrus not being to great with needles himself.

He found some pants and a pack of tiny socks, and even some long underwear, something perfect for Snowdin’s icy cold climate. All of them were soaked and dirty, but nothing a good wash would fix.

He found a wooden train, paint bleached away through time and light, scratched, but with still working wheels, and all parts attached.

Papyrus slid down a pile of garbage, twitching a bit as some hit his bodysuit covered bones.  
That was a great haul, clothes, toys.

He just wished he found some book...he only had a fluffy bunny left himself, most other were advanced puzzle books, some history books, some fantasy and his brother's sci-fi novels, which remained in Papyrus’ bookshelf until the trash tornado was removed. Which would probably be until the end of time.

But not many things he could read to a small child. And even though Fluffy Bunny was a classic, he wanted to give the child some options to pick. He didn‘t read the same thing every day after all, either.  
Papyrus walked through the dump to the exit, as suddenly something caught his attention.

Papyrus smiled as he picked it up, yes, Frisk would really like this.

He placed the small, colourful book titled „Pet the Rabbit“ onto the pile of things he found, sprinting back home, excited to see Frisk's reaction.

\------

Papyrus entered, seeing his brother stir at the sound, placing the pile of clothes and toys onto the table, pulling off his boots.

„hey bro..“

Sans yawned, stretching with pure satisfaction on his face, popping all bone in his back, just to let himself fall back onto the couch, limp like a sack of potatoes.

„HELLO BROTHER! HOW ARE YOU?“

„hmmm.....pretty good. just tired..“

„WELL, THAT IS YOUR OWN FAULT FOR GOING INTO A SNOWSTORM WITH LOW MAGIC! YOU ARE HAVE TO STAY HOME UNTIL YOU HAVE YOUR MAGIC BACK...AND NO SHORTCUTS!“

„aww, are you putting me under bedrest Mr. Police?“

„SANS, THAT WAS THE WORST ONE YOU EVER MADE!“

„well, i try my worst after all.“

A small yawn and rustling of clothes, followed Papyrus’ annoyed shout, Frisk sticking their head out of the bundle of blankets on the couch.

„GOOD MORNING TINY HUMAN!“

They squeaked in return, grumbling slightly as Sans ruffled their hair.

„g‘morning kid.“

Papyrus brought them both the leftover oatmeal, Sans keeling over as he tried to get up, Papyrus allowing him to loaf on the couch, Frisk too small to get their own food.

Papyrus helped them manoeuvre the spoon to their mouth, ending up feeding them, while they sit on his lap.

„hey bro.“

„YES?“

„where did you get those heating pads, they are honestly just amazing.“

„OH, FROM THE SHOPKEEPER. SHE REALLY HELPED ME OUT AFTER I EXPLAINED TO HER WHAT HAPPENED.“

Sans froze mid-movement, spoon hovering in front of his face before he placed it back into the bowl.

„uhm...paps? what exactly did you tell her?“

„OH, THAT WE HAVE A SMALL....FRIEND OVER...“

„did you...mention that it‘s a human?“

„I ALMOST LET IT SLIP, BUT I MANAGED TO COVER IT UP PERFECTLY LIKE I COVER UP ALL MY SLIP UPS!“

There was a loud crash outside, screams and things being thrown around.

„Where is the human!?!“, a certain fishlady‘s voice rang through Snowdin, making windows vibrate with its intensity.

„oh, boy....“


	6. This seems kind of fishy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where some fish sticks meet a human.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A friend beta-read my previous chapters, so they are now updated to a newer, less grammatically wrong version.  
> (Also thanks again for beta-reading! Even tho you probably won't read this note here \O/ )
> 
> And I actually learned something, so this and other chapters might actually be written a bit better.....maybe.....hopefully <.<

Papyrus jumped up the same moment Undynes voice rang through the house, pressing his back against the door to give them all some more time to think, some time to plan what to do now.

Sans jumped up himself, he could teleport the human away until things calmed down, and then come back. He fell over as soon as his feet hit the ground, still to magically exhausted to move, teleporting definitely out of question.

„I know you have a human in there Papyrus!“, Undyne was already outside of the door, Papyrus was blocking with his body. She knocked loudly, almost throwing the whole thing, including Papyrus, into the living room. They didn‘t have a lot of time to get Frisk away and to safety.

„U-....UNDYNE! I DON‘T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT, THERE ARE NO HUMANS HERE THAT MY BROTHER FOUND IN THE WOODS!“

Sans cringed from the floor, well that sounded convincing. Climbing back up onto the couch, Sans threw one of the blankets on top of Frisk, hiding them at least somehow.

„Papyrus!“, Undynes voice was roaring and deafening.  
„I know you have a human in there, and if you don‘t open this door right now, I will get in there myself!“

„UNDYNE, PLEASE...I CAN EXPLAIN!“

„There is nothing to explain here!“

The door creaked, suddenly being lifted into the air and thrown outside, while leaving Papyrus in place like a very bony, not very doory, door.

Papyrus stepped to the side, sweat beading on his skull, throwing a crooked smile at the angry fish lady, entering the house with large steps.

„HELLO UNDYNE...“

„Papyrus...“, her voice was cutting and sharp, a spear materializing in her hand. They may be friends, they may be best friends. But she was still his boss.

„Where is the human!?“

Papyrus wrung his hands, his gaze not meeting Undynes. „Uhm...UHM...HUMAN? WHAT HUMAN? IS THERE A HUMAN ON THE COUCH?“

Undyne stormed over to the couch, throwing a deadly glare at Sans, before he even said anything, mustering the lump of blankets next to him.  
The lump shivered.

Undyne grabbed the fabric, pulling it away with a jerk, making the lump shriek in response.  
All three stared at the shivering mass of human.

„What....is that!?“

Frisk sniffled, hiding their head in between their arms, face pressed into the couch. They shivered with each of Undynes words, scooting closer to Sans.

„WELL....IT COULD BE A HUMAN...“

Undyne leaned closer, giving the bundle of fear in front of her a closer, inspecting look.  
Then she grabbed Frisk by their shirt collar, picking them up.  
Both Papyrus and Frisk shouted, startled, as Undyne held Frisk close to her face, staring at them with a deadly glare. The spear was still in her hand.  
Sans tried to grab Frisk, but Undyne pushed him back on the couch. This was not good.

„What is wrong with them?“

Both Papyrus and Sans threw glances at each other.

„well, they are...fun-sized.“

Terrible timing. Just terrible.

„WHAT...WHAT MY BROTHER IS TRYING TO SAY IS...THEY ARE STILL A BABYBONES.“

Undyne‘s head snapped towards Papyrus, her eyes wide.

„A baby?“

„well...more of a toddler i think.“

Undyne looked back at the crying, tiny human in her hand. She knitted her eyebrows. Apparently, she wasn‘t really comfortable with the whole situation anymore. A harmless, small child was far, far away from the menacing, dangerous human she was expecting.

Then suddenly, she pointed her spear at the human, turning them green, Frisk going limp, unable to flee now.

„It doesn‘t matter if they are young or old! They are still our enemy!“

Her voice was as sharp as before, but there was a hint of uncertainty in it. Papyrus decided this was the perfect time to take a risk.

„MAYBE...FIGHT THEM? AT LEAST GIVE THEM A CHANCE!“

Both Sans and Frisk threw a terrified look at him. But he had a plan.  
Undyne could never back away from a challenge. She placed Frisk down on the floor, giving them a broken off part of her spear.

„FINE! Human, face danger head-on if you want this chance!“

Her attacks were slow. Papyrus sighed in relief as he saw how much she was holding back. Frisk had enough time to turn in place and block the incoming spears with the one in their hand.

Frisk didn‘t attack back, acting in her turn, looking to either Papyrus or Sans for reassurance. Frisk managed to calm down, getting more confident with each passing turn, seeing that both skeletons were standing behind them.

Finally Undynes green magic ran out, she had great control over it, but no magic could last forever. Even Papyrus had trouble keeping his blue magic on somebody for longer than a couple of minutes.

Frisk almost fell on the ground as her soul was released with a pop, looking around in confusion.

„FRISK!“, Papyrus whisper-screamed, his whispering screams loud enough to count as regular screams. „BE KIND! I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT!“

Frisk walked towards Undyne, throwing their arms around Undynes legs in a hug.  
Undyne startled back. Papyrus smiled. Sans chuckled.

Well, Frisk seemed to have listened to Papyrus, hugs make everything alright again. Well...at least partly.  
Undyne looked down at them. 

„What....are you trying to...befriend with me???“

Frisk looked at Papyrus again, seeing him nod and mimicking the motion as they looked up at Undyne. Undyne burst out laughing.

„Oh, yes, of course. Let‘s be friends! Let‘s make friendship bracelets! How about I give you a piggyback ride? NOT!“

Undyne pushed frisk away from her.

„Why should I ever be friends with you?!“

Papyrus smiled. 

„OH NO, FRISK I AM SORRY, BUT I SEEM TO HAVE MISJUDGED UNDYNE. I THOUGHT SHE WAS UP TO THE CHALLENGE, BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SHE IS NOT.“

Undynes head turned towards Papyrus, so fast there was a quiet popping of bones.

„YOU THINK I AM NOT UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!?!“

She practically roared. Undyne never backed down from a challenge! Never!  
She picked up Frisk, pulling them into an awkward embrace.

„We will be besties human!“

„their name‘s frisk. you should really know your besties name, ‘dyne.“, Sans teased, relaxing back into the couch. 

Undyne threw another dirty glance at Sans, setting Frisk down on the couch. 

„Hu, Frisk. How old are you even?“

Frisk just looked at her.

„UHM...UNDYNE. THEY DON‘T REALLY.. TALK.“

„Hm..well...fine. I can live with that! We will be friends, Frisk. But don't flatter yourself!“

Frisk beamed up at her. But Undyne didn‘t beam back, leaning closer to them, looking Frisk directly into the eyes.

„If you grow up to be dangerous, or just look at a monster the wrong way, I will take your soul right then and there. You are still an enemy to us all, you got it!?“

Frisk nodded their head, their hand grabbing Sans sleeve in a death grip. But they didn‘t cry.

„Huff, good. I have my eyes on you.“

"more like eye.."

Undyne pretended not to have heard Sans muttered comment.

Papyrus took a deep breath. He was glad that Undyne had a secret soft spot for children. She would risk her life to save one, and she would go out of her way so she wouldn‘t have to hurt one.  
Undyne turned towards Papyrus.

„Hey Papyrus, where did you find them?“

„OH, SANS FOUND THEM IN THE FOREST.“

Sans patted Frisk on their head, ruffling their hair a bit.

„yop, seem to have fallen from the surface.“

„Hmph. I knew humans were shit, but not going after their child, after it fell into a mountain is a new low.“

Papyrus fidgeted.

„UHM....I DON‘T THINK THEIR PARENT‘S WERE THERE.“

Papyrus stuck his hand into his battlebody, pulling the note he still had in there outside, handing it over to Undyne. Her face fell, and Papyrus was now sure that Frisk was safe.

She was boiling with rage, her voice low and icy.

„Who does something like that!? Who just drops their kid on some mountain and leaves them there?!“

She turned towards Frisk, who was sinking into the couch, trying to hide from Undyne. Undyne stretched out her hand, Frisk flinching away, but smiling as Undyne placed it gently on Frisk‘s shoulder.

„Well, we are besties now, no need to have some human parents! Right Papyrus?!“

„RIGHT! I AM ALREADY A GREAT MOM!“

„A mom?“

„YES!“

„Wait...who am I then?“

„THE AUNT?“

Undyne smirked. She adored this goofy skeleton more then she could put into words.

„can i be the uncle who gets completely wasted on Christmas and wakes up in the shed?“

„NO!“

„aww..“

Undyne sighed, throwing a glance at Frisk, somewhere between sadness and annoyance. She is actually letting a human go. Was she getting soft? And was it even a bad thing if she did..?

Asgore was a huge softy, and he was an amazing king in Undynes eyes. Well, if her decision was wrong, she could always fix it with spears and fists. But part of her really hoped it wouldn't come to that. At least not right now.

She turned on her heels, stretched and walked out of the house.

„Well then, bye nerds! I still have patrols to run.“

„GOODBYE UNDYNE!“

„bye.“

Undyne picked up the broken door, leaning it against the doorway after going outside, before leaving with crunching steps.  
The door fell over.

„welp, guess we need a new one..“

\------

The rest of the day was quiet. Sans spend it looking after Frisk, staying on the couch and napping from time to time, while Frisk wandered trough the house or watched TV with him.

Sans having to keep them from waddling outside trough the broken door a couple of time, planting onto his face as he had to sprint after them.  
Why did it always take so long for his magic to rebuild itself...

Papyrus, on the other hand, was more active, running to Waterfall and searching through the dump for something the door could be fixed with. They did have a hammer, but no nails, a screwdriver, but no screws. He just needed some screws, and some new door hinges, and then Sans could fix the door.

His brother always enjoyed tinkering with things, or fixing them, something he actually wasn‘t lazy about. And Papyrus supported everything that got Sans off of his lazy butt.

Luckily humans seemed to throw all kinds of things down here, so only about two hours later, Papyrus was running back home. He found a small box of screws that could be large enough to hold a door and even two hinges. They didn‘t fit together, one was made out of copper and old, while the other was silver in colour and rather new and shiny.

„BROTHER! I GOT NEW HINGES!“

Sans was startled awake, rubbing his eyesockets with uncoordinated hands. 

„huuuuu.....oh, great bro...imma go back to sleep, ‘lright...“

Papyrus huffed in annoyance, throwing the screws and hinges at his brother, earning a giggle from Frisk.  
Papyrus patted Frisk on the shoulder, walking over to the broken door and depositing it on the floor in front of the couch.

„HERE! SO YOU CAN WORK ON IT WITHOUT HAVING TO GET UP!“

„aw, thanks, bro. i really appreciate that you accepted my laziness.“

„I WILL NEVER ACCEPT IT! BUT IF YOU CAN‘T GET UP WITHOUT ALMOST FAINTING..“

„don‘t call it fainting bro..“

„WITHOUT FAINTING THEN I WILL LET YOU TAKE THINGS EASY!“

Sans slid down from the couch onto the floor, leaning his head against the couch cushions.

„bro please, i don‘t faint... i just got light-headed, ‘s all.“

„OH YES? WELL, THEN GET UP.“

„bro, that‘s cruel..“

„IF IT‘S JUST LIGHTHEADEDNESS, AND I HAVE NOTHING TO WORRY ABOUT, THEN YOU WON‘T HAVE ANY PROBLEM TO GET UP NO, WON‘T YOU?“

Sans sighed, Frisk, toddling over to him, sitting down on his lap. They patted Sans chest with a solemn expression, as if they tried to comfort him.

„well, you won bro.“

But Papyrus attention was already focused on something different.

„AWW BROTHER! LOOK! THEY ARE TRYING TO COMFORT YOU! THEY ARE ALREADY SUCH A GOOD HUMAN, THERE IS NO DOUBT THEY WILL GROW UP EVEN GREATER!“

Sans chuckle, rubbing Frisk‘s back.

„thanks, kid..... yeah, i think they will.“

\------

Sans went to work on the door, honestly a bit excited to have something to tinker with for at last some time, sorting through the different screws in the box.  
Papyrus hasn‘t noticed that the screws where all different sizes. And the hinges where also sets of five, glued together lightly, all different sized too.  
Not much to tinker with, but hey, at least it was kind of enjoyable.

Papyrus picked up Frisk, letting his brother work while taking the human for a walk. 

„FRESH AIR IS VERY HEALTHY, YOU KNOW! AND WE HAVE ACTUAL MOUNTAIN AIR HERE, CRISP CLEAN AND PAPYRUS APPROVED!“

Frisk held his hand, having fussed until he let them walks themselves. They barely managed to grasp his hand, but they just refused to give up and being carried.  
They sniffed the air, grinning up at Papyrus.  
Seems that the air was also Frisk approved now.

„OH!“

They hadn‘t walked very far as Papyrus froze.

„HUMAN! I JUST HAD A GREAT IDEA! WELL, ALRIGHT, ALL MY IDEAS ARE GREAT, BUT THIS ONE IS...AT LEAST DOUBLE GREAT!“

Frisk looked up at him patiently, smiling. For a toddler, they really knew how to be friendly and polite.

„WE CAN VISIT A FRIEND OF MINE!“

Now they really perked up. Another friend! Frisk saw the skeletons as friends and as a family already, comfortable in the warm home, and adoring the way both skeletons treated Frisk.  
But another friend?

They were honestly a bit...scared. Undyne was already pretty loud and terrifying, even though she calmed down after a while. Frisk worried their lip. What if Papyrus other friend was even louder and angrier?

Papyrus picked them up as Frisk tugged at his hand, letting them hide their face in his scarf.  
„DON‘T WORRY! HE IS A VERY FRIENDLY FRIEND! I SADLY DON‘T KNOW IF HE IS CLOSER TO YOUR AGE OR MINE, BUT YOU STILL CAN BEFRIEND HIM! WOULDN‘T THAT BE AMAZING!?“

Papyrus honestly didn‘t know his friend's age, but especially the first few years they knew each other, his friend just seemed so...childlike. But as Papyrus grew up, his friend did too. He became less childlike with every year.

But he was still a good friend, and good friends are exactly what Frisk needed!

Papyrus held them a bit closer to himself and ran towards the forest. There was always a certain place they met up, Papyrus really hoped his friend would be there today.

A few minutes later, Papyrus set Frisk down on the snowy ground of a large clearing.

„HU...I WONDER IF HE ISN‘T HERE TODAY... MAYBE HE IS BUSY.“

„Papyrus, I didn‘t expect you to come here today!“

A sweet voice called from behind, both Papyrus and Frisk turning around, Frisk‘s hand holding onto Papyrus leg as they eyed the new face in front of them.

„OH! HERE YOU ARE!“

Papyrus beamed.

„I WANT YOU TO MEAT SOMEBODY! THIS IS FRISK, MY BROTHER FOUND THEM IN THE WOODS!“

Frisk waved shyly.

„Oh, golly, nice to meet‘cha. I‘m Flowey! Flowey the Flower!


End file.
